


A Piece of Me...

by bekindplsrewind



Series: A/part [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Adam on his own, Adam starts to question his sanity, Adam trying to get his life together without Michael, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Post Series, Timestamp, and dissociates often, despite Michael not being present in this fic, midam, slight angst, this fic SCREAMS midam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:54:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25485805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bekindplsrewind/pseuds/bekindplsrewind
Summary: Now alone without Michael, Adam takes action by moving forward in his life. One where he can finallylive.
Relationships: Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester, Michael/Adam Milligan
Series: A/part [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1795276
Comments: 19
Kudos: 35





	A Piece of Me...

**Author's Note:**

> hello, everyone! this is a little timestamp after [_Hold Me Tenderly Before You Go_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24820948), just so you have an idea of what adam does on his own. it's not entirely angsty, and even without Michael making an appearance, it is SO heavily midam! XD
> 
> i'd initially written this draft hating it, but after several revisions, i think i managed to salvage this into something manageable to share. hope y'all enjoy!
> 
> thank you, dyl pickle [aka [thewaywardgryffindor](https://thewaywardgryffindor.tumblr.com/)] for the beta! :)

Sometimes Adam believed he’d made it all up. That at some point in his life, perhaps from an extreme case of psychosis brought upon by a nervous break from his studies, he’d created an entirely different, highly unrealistic world to deal with the stresses of college life. He’d laugh about it sometimes, because in hindsight, it was insane. Over the course of a supposed 1,200 years, he’d spent it in isolation with the archangel, Michael, the only one he could rely on for companionship. Neither of them had anticipated the unlikely friendship they would inevitably cultivate with their agreement, nor fathomed that one day it would lead to a relationship, one that was beyond anything Adam could have possibly imagined. Adam had fallen in love with him— _hard—_ and by the looks of it, he’d believed they’d spend the rest of eternity together in that metal ribbed cage. That was, until the day they were freed.

So how could he have possibly believed that that was all real when, in fact, he was more likely to be an undiagnosed schizophrenic? He thought about this as he restocked the supplies at his job. How could all of that be more real than the solid counter he was wiping down, the smell of fried grease that hung in the air behind him, the glares of the impatient customers in the line that demanded to see the supervisor? He found it quite funny, that the life he had before, however surreal, was more _real_ than whatever reality he was living now.

Ultimately, it really came down to the question: was Michael real? He was literally the projection of Adam’s own image, who at times glowed and had wings, but Adam could never actually touch him; only Michael could put his hands on him on occasion when it suited him, because, after all, they shared a body. But he wasn’t here now. He'd been gone for quite some time. So, could he have been part of one huge and elaborate hallucination Adam had conjured up?

“You were born on September twenty-ninth, nineteen-ninety to Kate Milligan.” Adam peered at himself in his bathroom mirror as he tried to rationalise his thoughts, a slight furrow touching his teenaged and youthful brow. “You were eighteen, going nineteen when you were killed in two thousand nine, resurrected in two thousand ten, and thrown into hell the same year. Ten years have passed since then; you should be pushing thirty, but you haven’t aged a day since.

“Michael’s gone to rebuild heaven and train new angels, and you… you need to get your life together without him.” He forced the last words out as he tried to steady his voice, his eyes hot and prickling as they shone with the tears he fought back. He took three long and calming breaths before heading to his nightstand for his wallet. Tucked behind his debit card was a little, folded piece of paper with a phone number on it. Adam sighed as he began to dial the numbers on his cell phone.

* * *

Sam glanced at the out-of-state number he didn’t recognise light up on his mobile screen. With a slight frown, he answered it. “Hello?”

“Hey, Sam, it’s Adam.”

Sam’s brows shot up in surprise. “Adam, hey! How—how’re you?”

“Alive, for one.”

Sam’s expression slumped into a frown. “I—I know we’ll never make it up to you—”

“Well, you can start by trying now,” Adam said with a sigh. “I need you to do something for me.”

“Yeah, okay,” Sam nodded, “what do you need?”

“You've got resources, right? You think you can hack into my school’s database and have me put back into the system?"

“You’re going back to school?” Sam couldn’t hide the surprise in his voice.

“That was always the plan. And now that I’m officially back, I thought I’d finish it this time around.”

“That’s… that’s great, Adam.” Sam was relieved. After the literal hell Adam had been through, he deserved the normal life he had been robbed of.

“So… you think you can do this for me?” Adam asked.

“I, uh… yeah,” Sam said on an exhalation of breath. “Let me see what I can do.”

“I’ll text you my student number and other information you might need. I’ll also need an ID,” Adam added.

“I can get that done for you, too.”

“Great. And, uh, if you could adjust my date of birth; roll it back ten years to match my teenage body? It would be a little awkward to explain that I’m thirty when I’m looking like this.”

“O-of course.”

“Cool. Let me know when you’re done.” Adam hung up before Sam had a chance to say anything else.

* * *

It had been a couple of days since their conversation. Sam was busy on his laptop when Dean caught him.

“What’re you doing?” Dean took a seat across from him, a steaming mug of coffee in hand.

Sam glanced up from the screen. “Looking up Adam’s transcript.”

“Adam.” Dean paused. _“Our_ Adam.”

“Uh, yeah.”

“The kid’s going back to school?”

Sam nodded. “He’s smart. Managed a few scholarships and maintained a 4.0 GPA.”

Dean took a sip of his coffee. “So, he’s a nerd. Like you.”

Sam threw him the obligatory bitchface, for himself _and_ Adam’s behalf. “He’s _bright.”_

“I know. I’m happy for him.”

With a rueful smile, Sam sighed. “Yeah. Me, too.”

* * *

Sam called Adam a few days later.

“Everything’s been taken care of,” he began. “I—I noticed that you had less than a month to complete the semester before… um—”

“I got made into human tartare,” Adam said dryly.

“I, uh—ahem—right. So… so, in addition to the final exams, you’ll most likely need to take those courses again. But, if you talk to the dean of administrations, you might be allowed to take the exams on their own. You could catch up with your school curriculum.”

“Yeah, I’ve looked into that already. I’ll tell them I had to take a leave of absence because of my mother’s death.”

Sam’s lack of response spoke louder than if he had uttered a word. Adam assumed he was nodding sagely or something. It seemed like a Sam thing to do.

“Do you have my ID ready?”

“It’ll, uh, take a couple more days.”

“Cool. Just FedEX it over.”

“Will do. And, um, Adam, if there’s anything else you need from us, anything at all, don’t hesitate to call. We’d like to keep in touch, get to know you.”

Adam was quiet as he took a breath to calm himself and collect his thoughts. “Don’t expect me to come around the holidays anytime soon. Just because I decided to call you up, doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you. And to be honest, I… I don’t know if I ever will. Just… please respect my wishes and don’t push it.”

Sam sighed. “I… I understand. I’m truly sorry, Adam. I mean it.”

Adam pressed his lips together firmly before ending the call with a one-worded: “Yeah.”

* * *

Adam received his ID three days later. The date of birth on the card read: 09/29/2001. It would take some getting used to.

He’d taken a weekday off to head up to campus and talk to the dean of administrations about his situation. Given the circumstance and his impressive records, Adam was granted a month to prepare for the exams he was never able to take. While he was still there, he also went to financial aid and looked into any available scholarships and applied for a few.

It was evening by the time Adam returned home, and although he was worn out from spending almost an entire day of being on the road, he immediately started browsing Craigslist for used textbooks. Over the next two days, he’d acquired everything he needed for his course material.

He studied whenever he got the chance—on his way to work, during the lulls on his shifts, on his breaks, and as soon as he got home. The only times he didn’t have a book in his face was when he was working, in the shower, or sleeping.

He had to admit that any retention of knowledge from all those years ago was hazy. He recognised some names and had a general grasp of some of the systems, but in essence, he was essentially teaching himself a full semester—or rather his freshman’s year’s—worth of material in one month. The entire aspect of that was daunting—so much material condensed into so little time—but Adam’s perception of things were a little skewed. Considering his experience with time distortion in hell, it was irrelevant. All he knew was that he was going to do it, and he would be okay.

It was at one point while he was studying biology and the Krebs cycle when he felt a sudden pang of nostalgia. Apparently, out of boredom and a fair exchange of thoughts (considering how much knowledge Michael was always imparting), Adam had decided to teach Michael some biology. Even though he was _sure_ Michael knew all of this already, he had never asked Adam to stop. This distant memory was enough to make Adam stop and smile. He honestly wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry, because, although it was a happy memory, it reminded him of how much he missed him, and how utterly alone he was without him.

Adam shook his head and smacked his cheeks. “Focus, kid.”

* * *

Two weeks later, Adam received a couple of letters informing him he’d been granted his scholarships. They didn’t entirely cover all of that year’s tuition, but he had saved enough money to pay for the rest. He’d have another year to worry about next year’s costs, but for now, he was secure.

His exams were spread out over the course of three days. Adam headed to Wisconsin and decided to stay at a motel rather than make the six hours of commute each day. He thought he did well, taking the time to answer each question concisely. He wasn’t in the habit of writing for prolonged periods of time, though. His hand ended up cramping occasionally during the exams, and his neck was sore from keeping in the same position for so long, staring down at the papers, but he felt accomplished when it was all over.

After he got home, Adam started going through his possessions, separating the things he wanted to keep and putting the rest into a box to donate. He’d whittled it down to his already small wardrobe, his laptop, and the chili pepper plushie and caricature sketch he’d gotten on his date with Michael.

He’d received his exam results within a week with A’s across the board. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, given his consistency in his scores, but it had been so long since he’d been graded, it felt odd to him to actually see that. He supposed he should have felt happy with the results, and in a sense he was, but he was mostly numb and merely accepted the fact that he had passed. Now that he had completed his freshmen year, the next semester would be the start of him being a junior. In the coming week, he would be allowed to sign up for his courses.

The last course of action came to pass when Adam submitted his two weeks notice at his job. He’d met some friendly faces there, but not enough to consider them friends, so it was easy for him to say goodbye.

* * *

Two weeks had passed quickly. It was the day of his big move.

Adam stood by his door, everything he possessed now tucked away in the luggage by his side. He coughed into his shoulder and smiled ironically. He was getting sick for the first time since the best immune system with wings had left him. He supposed getting a cold should be a welcoming thing, like a ‘welcome back to humanity’ gift package. It was a better way of thinking than the amount of sniffling and coughing he was going to have to endure for the next few days.

Adam glanced around his little studio apartment one last time before wheeling his suitcase behind him as he stepped out, shutting the door behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you all for reading!
> 
> i actually have no idea whether or not colleges or universities would allow students who haven't completed their classes [but were close to] permission to take their exams BC of a family death. i mean, i would like to hope so out of the compassion of their hearts :/. but i made it happen anyway, so.
> 
> adam's going back to school! he's going to be a DOCTOR!!! :DDDD i'm so proud of this boy ;n;.
> 
> in the next part, we get to see another familiar face! :D but who could it be...? hmm... [guesses, anyone? XD]
> 
> kudos and comments are always appreciated! :)
> 
> i'm approaching the multi chapter story of this series soon!!! D:
> 
> feel free to bother me at my tumblr! [seagullmichael](https://seagullmichael.tumblr.com/)


End file.
